So... If they can have 2 cores at full speed, or 1 core at double speed... WHY THE FUCK do they have 2 cores in the first place?
Well, in the longrun if they do something along the lines of the OS determining if the present circumstances would benefit more from 1 fast core or 2 regular cores, then you get the best of both worlds. Your machine could take situations where multi core is benefitial or jump to single core mode.
Think of it like having a car that can transform between a sleek sports car (single core) or heavy-duty pickup truck (multi core). Then again the optimal scenario would be a pickup truck that can simple accelerate and handle like a sports car.
Delays suck, regaurdless which company is doing it.
That being said, you can't really complain about Vista's delays being laughed at while Apple's isn't. Vista was delayed a LONG LONG time, I believe years. Plus, even with Vista's major delays Microsoft still had to cut out a lot of interesting features (new filesystem, a few other neat things, etc).
I'm kind of annoyed, I was holding off on buying a new computer until Apple released Leopard and a new round of iMacs. I gave my brother my old Powerbook last year for college and have recently wanted to get back into OSX.
Oh well, hopefully their current estimate is correct.
The idea to getting a Wii is to keep calling your local game stores everyday.
Unfortunately, by me, the stores are sick of that. The BestBuys have a recording that plays when you select the game systems dept on your phone. It goes something like "We don't have any, and please stop asking our employees; they don't know and woudln't tell you if they did." When I (or one of my friends) call one of the local gamestops they act like jack-asses for a few minutes, then stop laughing and tell us to stop bothering them.
I got mine from eBay 1-2 weeks after launch. I paid way too much, but didn't mind. It's definately a fun system.
I haven't tried too much from the XBox 360's online store (just a few movies like "V for Vendetta") but it was pretty good. Good HD selection, rentals, etc.
I only had 2 problems with it. The first one I knew off the bat, even with a 3Mbit connection it took a long while to get "V for Vendetta" in HD. Most people that wonder why iTunes doesn't have HD content seem to get the fact that it's going to be multiple Gigabytes to watch a full-length movie in real HD. Note, some of the TV Show torrents that say HD are in fact simply pulled from an HD feed (so they look clear, no static) but are really just encoded at 480P.
The other problem was my movie download kept dying. While I can download the games and demoes fine, the movies just kept cr@pping out.
In the end, I'll pick one up when I get 15Mbit Verizon FIOS (should be 2 more months) and Apple offers some HD content.
It might be easy in theory, but you need to think of scale. Take all of the cellphone manufacturers, during the course of a year a lot of cellphones are released. So each year you have a lot of cellphones to test.
Then, the test itself isn't so clear-cut. Sure, that 1-year-old 737 might run fine, but what about the 7-year-old 737? It might have less around the electronics, or casual wear-and-tear might have left an opening.
Put both factors together, and testing isn't so easy. Sure, it's possible but is it really worth the effort?
I've just started using Ubuntu, my first real use of anything Linux in about 4 years. I am quite impressed in the strides various distros have made in that time, installation was a breeze.
Unfortunately I fall into the group of *some* nVidia 7800GT users that have a problem getting Linux to recognize their video cards correctly out of the box. But after a little putzing around on ubuntuforums I found a quick solution.
That being said, so far I still like OS X's UI a little better.
Actually, it's kind of like buying a brand-new pickup truck and the dealer says this particular one is "biodiesel ready." In fact, inside on the dash is a fancy thing integrated on the dash saying "Biodiesel ready, think clean" or some nonsenense. It's not a gimmick, it was placed there by Ford (or whoever).
You then find out that it is not Biodiesel ready, but can be "upgraded" to handle Biodiesel. How pissed are you?
Interesting tidbit. I don't have a sense of smell and I do just fine. And yes, I can taste, though it's been debated to death by family and friends if by "taste" I've simply just learned to tell what food is which how salty/sweet/bitter the food is (those properties don't rely on smell).
The only problems I face are:
Worrying about a gas leaks and/or fires
Telling if food has gone bad without tasting it (if the label is "iffy)
I would like to add, instead of getting 100MPG, the same effect can be achieved if people would just live closer to work. In the USA, the average commute is something like 30 minutes. If we cut that down to 5 minutes, that is similar to going from 20MPG to 100MPG. It drives me nuts how many people commute 30-60 minutes to work!
Driving time is a poor estimate for this scenario. Take myself, I live about 30 minutes away but it's 100% small-town driving. In fact, I only live 10 miles away but it takes a while since all of the roads are 25MpH, I pass by 4 flippin' schools (drive through 4 tiny towns), and have a dozen lights. Over the course of a year, including weekends, driving vacations, road-trips, etc I barely put 7k miles on my car (usually 6k).
The other big thing is cost. Even though it's only 10 miles, if I want to live any closer to my job (even in just an apartment) I'd have to pay a LOT more per month for either rent or mortgage. Honestly, a similar apartment to mine (which is in a nice area) is an extra $600 a month for the "privelege" of being a couple of miles closer.
Sure, it has to suck on multiple levels if you live way-the-hell out; extra wear on the car, more gas, more chances for accidents, more time in "limbo", etc. But it's never a clear-cut answer.
Yeh, if I'm reading the article correctly then you're right. It sounds like the EMI songs are also offered as $0.99 128kbit w/ DRM. If that's the case, I wonder why they don't just offer the 128kbit DRM-free for $0.99.
I thought you were asking about the rest of the library.
Yeh, if I'm reading the article correctly then you're right. It sounds like the EMI songs are also offered as $0.99 128kbit w/ DRM. If that's the case, I wonder why they don't just offer the 128kbit DRM-free for $0.99.
So what exactly is their justification for leaving DRM on the $0.99 tracks?
Read the f'ing article, or even the whole post.
Currently EMI is the only publisher participating, accounting for about 20% of the songs available.
They can't just change prices or DRM on a whim, they need to go back to the negotiating table with all of the labels they "stock" and settle on an agreement. Unlike an ordinary brick-and-mortar store that can price however they want (within reason) Apple has to jump through a lot of hoops.
They are annoyed that they depict serial killers... in a show following FBI profilers. Isn't one of the core purposes for profiles to deal with serial killers? I know they have other roles, but come on.
I'm not a big fan of violence, I tend to stay away from gorey thrillers and horror movies, but "Criminal Minds" isn't bad. Most of the violent scenes are implicit: victim turns around to see man with knife, knife starts to swing through the air, end scene... protagonists find the body.
I will admit though that 24 has been a bit much, the whole power-drill thing was maybe taking things a little far.
But if this is a "think of the children" thing, then get a V-Chip or (God-forbid) keep an eye on your child and what he/she watches on TV.
Likewise, if someone is on the phone - handheld or not - and they are in an accident, it is presumed to be their fault unless proven otherwise.
I don't know how much I like that statement. I never talk on my cellphone but sometimes I'll place calls using my car's OnStar. I just reach up and click the rearview mirror and it's all voice-control from there; I never have to take my eyes off the road.
I'm a careful driver as it stands, but take even MORE precautions when doing this. Yet if some dingbat causes an accident while changing their makeup, but the cops see that I was on a phonecall at the time, your logic would dictate I'd be SOL. And further looking into your logic I couldn't really prove she was doing her makeup.
I'm against using cellphone without headset and understand that even with a headset the average person still has to "type." But a blanket statement like yours is even less fair than no statement at all.
Actually, black boxes for vehicles might become a reality in newer car models. Data from a black box and evidence from the accident scene should give the police enough information to recommend charges.
They're already used now, I was watching some news report about how a man was sentenced for manslaughter thanks to the box.
My only problem with "the box as evidence" is that once it goes in... that's it. There's no maintenance, no calibration, nothing. Heck, the auto manufacturers currently don't do much now to make sure it's 100% accurate once it's installed. Such was the situation with the manslaughter convict: the box said he was doing 100MpH, and while the damage was bad it wasn't THAT bad. Expert testimony from the PROSECUTION even said that they estimate it was probably closer to 70, while the defense was saying closter to 60. Yet throughout the whole trial they kept saying "he was going 100MpH, can you imagine that? That's insane!"
So do we really want to trust and rely on a system that doesn't pass any real forensic quality control? Radar and laser guns have to be calibrated weekly or monthly (and documented) or the results or the results can't be used at trial, but a box slapped under your dash by a grease monkey and forever ignored is valid?
I'm not too disturbed by the concept in general, but if they're going to use this for anything legal they need to set up some standards and guidelines like routine calibration and maintenance by a certified person, perhaps during vehicle inspection.
That is the reason I think they should switch from being hardware-centric to being software-centric, so that I can run their great software on my own choice of hardware. As long as they do not, they will not gain me back as a paying customer.
As the grandparent said, some of the allure of the Mac is "just works." As they control the hardware and have some control of the drivers they make a quality FINAL product. IE, something pretty solid and stable. It's not just OSX, or the perceived quality of the hardware, it's simply that their end-product is nice.
For all of the whining we Slashdotters do about Microsoft, they have a crap job. They have to make an OS that runs on countless combinations of hardware components and rely on drivers ranging from top-notch to complete hacks. Sure, their OS isn't perfect but they catch a lot of flack for poor drivers. Heck, when I tried putting Linux on a cheap/cruddy PC I found I ran into similar issues (though not as bad).
If they went the Microsoft route, they'd probably be just as bad (or worse) than Microsoft in end-result quality. They'd have to deal with the eMachines and other no-names out there that slap an OS on the cheapest components they can find. The end result is they'd be just as big a joke as Microsoft.
I'm not a Mac-head, in fact I got rid of my first/only Apple last year to my brother. But I did like the product as a whole.
Clearly the FCC did a poor job at estimating a timetable and expected HDTV prices to drop much faster than they have, but I see no reason to think that SDTV broadcasts aren't going away eventually.
There's a difference between digital and high-def. The FCC was requiring that all analog broadcasting go digital by year-x to save alot of frequency space. Said broadcasts would still be in standard definition but would require a digital tuner to plug into your TV instead of just bunny ears or roof-racks if your TV didn't already have a digital tuner built in. They weren't mandating that all signals go HD.
So it's not about HDTVs as much as everyone getting off their behinds to make it happen.
Fully off, as in, you can't turn it back on with a remote control? If you can use a remote control to turn it on, it isn't all the way off.
Correct, the button on the front turns it full off to the point that not even the remote turns it back on.
I don't know how common this feature is, but for a while I thought I'd broken the TV when I was staying at a place in Switzerland. I knew the owner, and they'd said they'd only bought it a couple of years ago (so 2002, 2003?) and it had this feature. I guess it's for the owner that wants to minimize power usage while they're out.
Do you consider your television to be "off" when you press the power switch? That's the exact same state as the Wii is in. It barely trickles power in that state. If you want your electronics to be in a powerless mode (fairly unnatural for modern electronics)
TVs available in Europe can by turned fully off via a button on the front. So they have the option of doing a soft-off like we're used to in the states or going all-out.
Yes, it is speeding Mr Obvious. It was probably closer to 27mph if you feel better. My street is very slight hill, so if I'm coasting down the hill with my brakes slightly applied doing 30mph or less that's fine in my book.
Does it warrant an oncoming car to pull in front of you to get you to "stop." Does it warrant causing a potentially bad accident accident?
OK, I'm against excessive speeding or reckless driving too. If our street was plagued with young kids (or even just 1) driving fast I couldn't blame her. But that's not case, it's a relatively quiet street. And to be honest, her "gut feeling" is usually wrong as I've had her try to barricade me when I was going 30mph in a 25mph zone because she "felt" I was going faster.
It would be one thing if she was going after people going fast or driving like idiots, but she goes after everyone and usually uses her "gut."
Slashdot Mirror
My mom used TurboTax (I got stuck w/ TaxCut this year). Anyway, she said it came back up just a few minutes before midnight. People were flipping out.
Personally, I did mine back in February.
Think of it like having a car that can transform between a sleek sports car (single core) or heavy-duty pickup truck (multi core). Then again the optimal scenario would be a pickup truck that can simple accelerate and handle like a sports car.
Delays suck, regaurdless which company is doing it.
That being said, you can't really complain about Vista's delays being laughed at while Apple's isn't. Vista was delayed a LONG LONG time, I believe years. Plus, even with Vista's major delays Microsoft still had to cut out a lot of interesting features (new filesystem, a few other neat things, etc).
I'm kind of annoyed, I was holding off on buying a new computer until Apple released Leopard and a new round of iMacs. I gave my brother my old Powerbook last year for college and have recently wanted to get back into OSX.
Oh well, hopefully their current estimate is correct.
I got mine from eBay 1-2 weeks after launch. I paid way too much, but didn't mind. It's definately a fun system.
Personally I like it in brown. I happen to like brown as a color but it's also a refreshing change to the common colors we associate with electronics.
However that is quite literally the only thing that makes me want to purchase a Zune, I'd rather get an iPod or something from iRiver.
I haven't tried too much from the XBox 360's online store (just a few movies like "V for Vendetta") but it was pretty good. Good HD selection, rentals, etc.
I only had 2 problems with it. The first one I knew off the bat, even with a 3Mbit connection it took a long while to get "V for Vendetta" in HD. Most people that wonder why iTunes doesn't have HD content seem to get the fact that it's going to be multiple Gigabytes to watch a full-length movie in real HD. Note, some of the TV Show torrents that say HD are in fact simply pulled from an HD feed (so they look clear, no static) but are really just encoded at 480P.
The other problem was my movie download kept dying. While I can download the games and demoes fine, the movies just kept cr@pping out.
In the end, I'll pick one up when I get 15Mbit Verizon FIOS (should be 2 more months) and Apple offers some HD content.
It might be easy in theory, but you need to think of scale. Take all of the cellphone manufacturers, during the course of a year a lot of cellphones are released. So each year you have a lot of cellphones to test. Then, the test itself isn't so clear-cut. Sure, that 1-year-old 737 might run fine, but what about the 7-year-old 737? It might have less around the electronics, or casual wear-and-tear might have left an opening. Put both factors together, and testing isn't so easy. Sure, it's possible but is it really worth the effort?
I've just started using Ubuntu, my first real use of anything Linux in about 4 years. I am quite impressed in the strides various distros have made in that time, installation was a breeze.
Unfortunately I fall into the group of *some* nVidia 7800GT users that have a problem getting Linux to recognize their video cards correctly out of the box. But after a little putzing around on ubuntuforums I found a quick solution.
That being said, so far I still like OS X's UI a little better.
You then find out that it is not Biodiesel ready, but can be "upgraded" to handle Biodiesel. How pissed are you?
The only problems I face are:
The other big thing is cost. Even though it's only 10 miles, if I want to live any closer to my job (even in just an apartment) I'd have to pay a LOT more per month for either rent or mortgage. Honestly, a similar apartment to mine (which is in a nice area) is an extra $600 a month for the "privelege" of being a couple of miles closer.
Sure, it has to suck on multiple levels if you live way-the-hell out; extra wear on the car, more gas, more chances for accidents, more time in "limbo", etc. But it's never a clear-cut answer.
Umm, April Fools?
Sorry, I should have read you're f'ing post :)
Yeh, if I'm reading the article correctly then you're right. It sounds like the EMI songs are also offered as $0.99 128kbit w/ DRM. If that's the case, I wonder why they don't just offer the 128kbit DRM-free for $0.99.
I thought you were asking about the rest of the library.
Sorry, I should have read you're f'ing post :)
Yeh, if I'm reading the article correctly then you're right. It sounds like the EMI songs are also offered as $0.99 128kbit w/ DRM. If that's the case, I wonder why they don't just offer the 128kbit DRM-free for $0.99.
Currently EMI is the only publisher participating, accounting for about 20% of the songs available.
They can't just change prices or DRM on a whim, they need to go back to the negotiating table with all of the labels they "stock" and settle on an agreement. Unlike an ordinary brick-and-mortar store that can price however they want (within reason) Apple has to jump through a lot of hoops.
Let me get this straight...
They are annoyed that they depict serial killers... in a show following FBI profilers. Isn't one of the core purposes for profiles to deal with serial killers? I know they have other roles, but come on.
I'm not a big fan of violence, I tend to stay away from gorey thrillers and horror movies, but "Criminal Minds" isn't bad. Most of the violent scenes are implicit: victim turns around to see man with knife, knife starts to swing through the air, end scene... protagonists find the body.
I will admit though that 24 has been a bit much, the whole power-drill thing was maybe taking things a little far.
But if this is a "think of the children" thing, then get a V-Chip or (God-forbid) keep an eye on your child and what he/she watches on TV.
I'm a careful driver as it stands, but take even MORE precautions when doing this. Yet if some dingbat causes an accident while changing their makeup, but the cops see that I was on a phonecall at the time, your logic would dictate I'd be SOL. And further looking into your logic I couldn't really prove she was doing her makeup.
I'm against using cellphone without headset and understand that even with a headset the average person still has to "type." But a blanket statement like yours is even less fair than no statement at all.
My only problem with "the box as evidence" is that once it goes in... that's it. There's no maintenance, no calibration, nothing. Heck, the auto manufacturers currently don't do much now to make sure it's 100% accurate once it's installed. Such was the situation with the manslaughter convict: the box said he was doing 100MpH, and while the damage was bad it wasn't THAT bad. Expert testimony from the PROSECUTION even said that they estimate it was probably closer to 70, while the defense was saying closter to 60. Yet throughout the whole trial they kept saying "he was going 100MpH, can you imagine that? That's insane!"
So do we really want to trust and rely on a system that doesn't pass any real forensic quality control? Radar and laser guns have to be calibrated weekly or monthly (and documented) or the results or the results can't be used at trial, but a box slapped under your dash by a grease monkey and forever ignored is valid?
I'm not too disturbed by the concept in general, but if they're going to use this for anything legal they need to set up some standards and guidelines like routine calibration and maintenance by a certified person, perhaps during vehicle inspection.
As the grandparent said, some of the allure of the Mac is "just works." As they control the hardware and have some control of the drivers they make a quality FINAL product. IE, something pretty solid and stable. It's not just OSX, or the perceived quality of the hardware, it's simply that their end-product is nice.
For all of the whining we Slashdotters do about Microsoft, they have a crap job. They have to make an OS that runs on countless combinations of hardware components and rely on drivers ranging from top-notch to complete hacks. Sure, their OS isn't perfect but they catch a lot of flack for poor drivers. Heck, when I tried putting Linux on a cheap/cruddy PC I found I ran into similar issues (though not as bad).
If they went the Microsoft route, they'd probably be just as bad (or worse) than Microsoft in end-result quality. They'd have to deal with the eMachines and other no-names out there that slap an OS on the cheapest components they can find. The end result is they'd be just as big a joke as Microsoft.
I'm not a Mac-head, in fact I got rid of my first/only Apple last year to my brother. But I did like the product as a whole.
So it's not about HDTVs as much as everyone getting off their behinds to make it happen.
I don't know how common this feature is, but for a while I thought I'd broken the TV when I was staying at a place in Switzerland. I knew the owner, and they'd said they'd only bought it a couple of years ago (so 2002, 2003?) and it had this feature. I guess it's for the owner that wants to minimize power usage while they're out.
Unfortunately, I just purchased my first new car last year (all my other cars were old old rust buckets). So I'd rather not damage it.
Yes, it is speeding Mr Obvious. It was probably closer to 27mph if you feel better. My street is very slight hill, so if I'm coasting down the hill with my brakes slightly applied doing 30mph or less that's fine in my book.
Does it warrant an oncoming car to pull in front of you to get you to "stop." Does it warrant causing a potentially bad accident accident?
OK, I'm against excessive speeding or reckless driving too. If our street was plagued with young kids (or even just 1) driving fast I couldn't blame her. But that's not case, it's a relatively quiet street. And to be honest, her "gut feeling" is usually wrong as I've had her try to barricade me when I was going 30mph in a 25mph zone because she "felt" I was going faster.
It would be one thing if she was going after people going fast or driving like idiots, but she goes after everyone and usually uses her "gut."